How to use When to use For whom Planning pitfalls Reaching deadlines

FREE Startup Marketing Plan Template

Master startup marketing project plan timelines with our intuitive startup marketing plan template project plan Gantt chart template.

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Gantt chart template

Why use our Startup Marketing Plan Template instead of Excel or Google Sheets?

Get started with our Startup Marketing Plan Template in seconds while skipping the hassle involved with Excel or Google Sheets.

Build Gantt charts in minutes, not hours.

Build Gantt charts in minutes, not hours.

No project management experience? No problem. Tom's Planner offers a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface that's intuitive and easy to learn. Creating Gantt charts is a breeze, saving you time and effort. Compare that to the time-consuming, frustrating, manual formatting-intensive process of building a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets.

Create a Gantt chart in minutes, not hours

Move at the pace of modern business with no learning curve or Googling formulas.

Good luck figuring out how to make a Gantt chart work in Excel or Google Sheets. Excel’s user manual weighs in at a hefty 500+ pages. It takes just five minutes with Tom’s Planner to start planning your first real project plan.

Create a Gantt chart in minutes, not hours

Headache-free collaboration and sharing.

Tom's Planner offers powerful options for sharing and collaborating on Gantt charts, including public links, PDF exports, and team access with customizable permission levels. It’s never been easier to communicate or ensure everyone’s on the same page. Compare that to Excel, where sharing and collaboration mean jumping through hoop after hoop and dealing with confusion and chaos.

How to use Tom’s Planner’s startup marketing plan template to build and share your marketing project.

Getting your project off the ground is as easy as 1-2-3.

Step #1

Click the 'start with template’ button to open the Startup Marketing Plan Template.

Step #2

Register for a free account and watch a short video on using Tom’s Planner. The account is free forever, with no strings attached.

Step #3

You’re all set to use the Gantt chart template. Need additional help? Our AI assistant can create a custom Gantt chart Startup Marketing Plan Template based on your project description.

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What is a startup marketing plan template?

Launching a new startup is a major undertaking. You need the right business idea, the right team to support you, and so much more. One of the most critical assets you’ll require is a startup marketing plan.

Coming up with a startup marketing plan requires time, effort, creativity, and money (or access to in-house expertise). Without one, your business is very likely to falter out of the gate, and that’s never a good thing. Yes, you can recover from missteps, but too many, too soon, can doom your business.

A startup marketing plan template can help you flesh out the strategy that you’ll follow to make everyone aware of what your business does. You can think of a startup company marketing plan template as a living, evolving guide or roadmap that shows how you’ll get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Plan more accurately with a startup marketing plan Gantt chart

You can create a startup marketing plan as a PDF, but that’s pretty limiting. You need more. Flexibility, customization, and the ability to adjust your strategy on the fly are critical. A startup marketing plan Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner gives you all these benefits and more, so skip the generic marketing plan for startup template.

When to use a startup marketing plan template

While a startup marketing plan Gantt chart can be an invaluable tool, you’ll need to know when to use it. Some of those instances include:
Planning Phase:

The entire point of a startup marketing plan template is to make planning your strategy simpler. It will help outline the different phases of the project, identify tasks and dependencies, and so much more.

Resource Allocation:

Launching your startup marketing plan will require resources – time, money, people, and more. Your startup marketing plan Gantt chart allows you to allocate resources to support strategy development and deployment at all stages.

Team Communication:

Your team must be able to communicate changes, milestones, and progress. A startup marketing plan Gantt chart allows them to update things in real-time, keeping everyone in the loop.

Your startup marketing plan template is a strategic tool that helps you and your team plan effectively and guide everyone to a successful launch.

Who should use a startup marketing plan template?

Startup marketing plans are important tools for a wide range of professionals engaged in creating viable advertising strategies. Some of those who’ll need access to your template include:

Project Managers:

Project managers are tasked with planning and monitoring the projects from beginning to end. They will assign tasks, identify dependencies, ensure tasks are completed, and handle resource allocation.

Copywriters:

Copywriters play a variety of roles in your startup marketing plan. They will need to synchronize their efforts with designers and programmers, track progress on key tasks, and more.

Graphic Designers:

Graphic designers will need to work with copywriters and other team members, so they’ll need to communicate, synchronize their efforts, and track tasks assigned to them.

Effectively using a startup marketing plan Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner can make the difference between success and failure in getting the word out about your business.

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The top three pitfalls to avoid when planning a startup launch

Want to ensure your startup marketing plan moves the needle? Avoid these three mistakes:

  1. Failure to Define Your Target Audience

    Who are you marketing to? If you don’t know the answer to that question, your entire marketing strategy will fail. You cannot assume that everyone out there might be interested in your offering.

    Solution:

    Identify your target audience during the initial planning stages. Take things a step further and segment that audience as well so you can personalize your efforts.

  2. Not Choosing the Right Social Platforms

    Think that all social media channels are the same? Think again. You need to choose the right platforms for your needs, based largely on where your target audience spends time online.

    Solution:

    Your planning efforts should involve deep dives into the various social media platforms to determine which ones will be the best investments.

  3. Relying on Big-Budget Marketing Efforts

    High-cost marketing tactics like PPC ads can yield results, but they’re not sustainable. Eventually, you’ll burn through your budget and find yourself back at square one.

    Solution:

    Identify low-budget but effective marketing methods that generate results over time, like organic SEO and social media marketing.

What does a startup marketing plan template include?

Creating an effective marketing plan for your startup requires understanding the various phases involved. Some of the things your digital marketing plan for a startup should include are:

  1. Research:

    Deep research is needed to create an effective marketing plan for any startup. You’ll need to conduct a market analysis, study your competitors, research your target audience, compile industry and brand-related insights, and formulate a strategy based on these elements.

  2. Branding:

    You must also create your brand from the ground up. What’s your brand vision? What are your values? You’ll need to choose a name, create a logo, settle on colors and typography, choose your tagline, and so much more. Record all this information in your startup digital marketing plan template.

  3. Content Creation:

    Marketing requires content, whether you’re focusing on digital, analog, or both. You’ll need to conduct keyword research, come up with topics, build a content calendar, and then invest in writing, editing, and graphic design.

  4. Social Media Setup:

    Social media is not optional today. You’ll need accounts on the right networks to support your startup marketing plan. Choosing platforms, creating accounts, optimizing profiles, crafting effective bios, and designing banners and other graphics all fall under this heading.

  5. Website Launch:

    Your website will be the hub for all your online activities. You’ll need to choose a domain, set up hosting, install a CMS, create a sitemap, create content and optimize it for search engines, test the site, and more.

  6. Advertising:

    Advertising involves a wide range of steps. Some of those include setting a budget, choosing a target audience, selecting an ad platform, handling copywriting and graphic design, and creating a bidding strategy.

There’s a lot that goes into creating a marketing plan for startups. A startup marketing plan Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner makes things easier.

Four tips on how to make sure you reach your deadlines

1. Break Your Plan into Segments

A well-laid-out startup marketing plan doesn’t lump everything together. It defines tasks, sets milestones, and illuminates dependencies. By breaking your overall strategy into smaller pieces, you accelerate progress.

2. Focus on Communication

Communication between team members is required for forward progress. Empower your teams through accurate planning and proactive delegation.

3. Stay On Top of Updates

No marketing strategy is static. Things change, and those changes can happen quickly. Make sure to stay on top of things and update your startup marketing plan Gantt chart as they happen to keep your people in the loop.

4. Lay the Foundation First

Planning is essential for your success, but orderly planning is vital. Start at the beginning by researching competition, delving into market trends, and identifying your audience. Nail these big things and everything else will be easier.

Gantt charts in Tom's Planner vs in Excel

Excel Tom's Planner
Cost License required Free version available
Learning curve Hours Minutes
Create your first Gantt chart Hours Minutes
Making an update in your chart Several minutes Seconds (drag & drop)
Sharing charts with others At some point you will save and email a file titled: version_4_def_usethisversion_reallyfinal.xlsx Online, one source of truth, always up to date, with no confusion
Look & Feel Messy Clean, polished and professional
Dependencies
Filtering
Zoom in/out
Automatic Legend
AI-assist Let our AI assist do the work for you
Export to image or pdf Requires workarounds to export One mouse click

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